John Paul Jones, colonial America’s first sea warrior, was a tenant of the Widow Purcell in this house in 1781 while he supervised the building of the Navy’s ship America nearby. Though he loved Portsmouth, he left New Hampshire in 1782 never to return. His house is now the museum of Portsmouth men, women and children, where their stories live.

We are a classic "turn of the century" museum with collections displayed in antique cabinets within many unique rooms. We display the largest collection of minerals north of Harvard University in Boston..

The Wright Museum consists of three distinct sections: a home front gallery and theater, a two-story Visitor's Center, and the museum's military wing, which houses exhibits devoted to all branches of the armed services. Among the highlights of the museum's military exhibition is a large collection of fully-operational vintage military vehicles, including a 42-ton Pershing tank - the only known surviving example from the 1945 crossing at Remagen Bridge.